KentuckyLotteryproceedsarehelpingcreateabettereducatedworkforce

Kentucky Lottery proceeds have now provided close to $2,800,000,000 for college scholarship and grant programs. Lottery dividends started being transferred away from the Commonwealth’s General Fund on a gradual basis in Fiscal Year 1999. Through FY16, the $2,765,882,456 in proceeds have gone to fund need-based and merit-based grants and scholarships, along with a reserve fund for the programs.

Funding for key educational programs All told, 654,249 students across the Commonwealth have received a lottery-funded college scholarship or grant since FY99. The awards are distributed by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA). Lottery revenue funds the need-based College Access Program (CAP) and Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG), along with the popular Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) program. “KEES, CAP and KTG are 100% funded by the Kentucky Lottery, and would not be the robust programs they are today without the Lottery’s support,” said Dr. Carl Rollins, KHEAA’s Executive Director. “Assisting thousands of Kentucky students and families to afford college is an outstanding legacy for the organization.”

Promising results concerning some of Kentucky’s brightest students In fact, 95 cents of every non-loan student aid dollar awarded by the Commonwealth comes straight from the sales of lottery tickets. And the results are tangible – according to KHEAA, data from the KEES program indicates more of Kentucky’s best and brightest students are staying in Kentucky to attend college. All unclaimed Kentucky Lottery prize money goes into the KEES Reserve Fund to help maintain the financial stability of the program. Around $9 million annually is projected to go into this fund, and it has received approximately $126.5 million since this practice started in FY03. The first $3 million in Kentucky Lottery proceeds each year goes to the University of Kentucky’s “Read to Achieve” program and the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development, with a total of $51 million going to these programs since FY00. When the KEES, CAP and KTG programs were established, one of the primary goals was to increase the number of Kentuckians with college degrees. This in turn would potentially help create a better educated workforce, which would then help grow the level of economic prosperity for our entire state. Data from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority show this is happening. The number of Kentucky residents over the age of 25 who have an earned postsecondary degree has risen to 31.2%, up 5% since 2008. Translated, that means nearly 1/3 of Kentuckians in this age range now hold a college degree. More support planned for 2017 In the Commonwealth’s 2017-2018 budget, Kentucky Lottery proceeds are designated to several different college scholarship and grant programs. In addition to KEES, CAP and KTG, Lottery funds will also fund these programs starting in FY17:

KY Teacher Scholarship

National Guard Tuition Assistance

Coal County College Completion Scholarship

Work-Ready Scholarship Program

Dual Credit Scholarship Program

For more information on any of these programs, visit kheaa.com. As lottery proceeds are dedicated to these scholarship and grant programs, additional channels to sell tickets have been launched – prime among them is the ability to buy tickets online or via a mobile device. For more information on the Kentucky Lottery, visit kylottery.com.